Love, Peace, and Graveyards
by magical-mystery-girl
Summary: Sirius was saved from the veil two years ago and two years ago he found out that he was the last surviving Marauder. Yet to this day the most loved wizarding holiday of Halloween he still hasn't moved on. Can Hermione help him find peace, maybe even love?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: It would be pretty lame for me to actually own Harry Potter and the characters therein with the option of making billions of dollars for writing about them and yet all I choose to do is post it on Fanfiction for free…so no, I don't own Harry Potter or any other J.K. Rowling characters.**

**A/n: Here is a weak, but hopefully still good attempt at a slightly angsty Halloween fic, hope you all enjoy!**

**Love, Peace, and Graveyards**

"Did you ever worry about him as much as I do?" Hermione asked softly, her voice muffled by her stocking clad knees which were pulled up to her chest as she stared down at the headstone that marked the graves, "I sometimes wonder if it was really such a good idea to bring him back from behind the veil. He doesn't remember what it was like there and I don't know, so how can I be sure that I didn't pull him back from being with you; from being happy?"

Hermione looked up at the far side of the cemetery when she heard laughter and couldn't refrain from smiling as she watched a group of dressed up children walked by with a happy couple, bags of candy clutched tightly in their happy little hands.

She had been just as eager as they were to celebrate the favorite wizarding holiday of Halloween this morning. But then reality had sunk in. She had woken that morning happy and eager for the evening's activities, she'd gone downstairs to make a nice breakfast for herself and her only other flat mate Sirius Black. Harry and Ron had both recently married and moved out; leaving her alone in the gigantic house that was Grimmauld Place with the last surviving Marauder.

It hadn't taken her long to realize why Sirius hadn't come down the stairs with a weak smile and a hug once he smelled the food she was making, as was their unofficial tradition each morning since his return. The realization of just what this day meant to Sirius had immediately placed a damper on the day's activities. No longer did she look forward to all the eager children seeking candy or reasons to prank; nor was she excited to go and join the rest of the Weasley/Potter clan at the annual Halloween party that was hosted by Molly.

All day long visitors dropped in, but none of them stayed very long. The atmosphere in the old, yet newly remodeled house seemed to have returned to that of the soul sucking black hole it had once been back during the Dark Period when Voldemort had begun his rise to power. Harry had even dropped by looking happy and content with his life, only to leave with a much darker mood than he should have had once Hermione told him that Sirius hadn't left his room all day.

It had become a common occurrence for Sirius to be dark and moody over the past two years since his return. Naturally some days were better than others, but it seemed that every time Sirius took a second to return to his old happy self, he would immediately remind himself of the deaths of his friends, making it nearly impossible to want to be around him at times.

For some inexplicable reason Hermione had hoped today would be better than the others, instead it was worse. Hermione had let him have his space for most of the day until she felt she would go crazy if she didn't at least offer to do something for the man she had come to fall in love with.

That's right, Hermione Jean Granger, bookworm extraordinaire, brains of the golden trio and current unspeakable, was in love with Sirius Orion Black, ex-escaped convict, her best friend's godfather and the last surviving Marauder, and everyone knew it but him. Hermione would bet that several of her friends had known about her feelings for the man long before she had known about them herself. As far as she was concerned at the time, Sirius was an attractive man that she adored arguing with, but one day that was all ripped from her; leading to an all encompassing sense of loss that hinted at stronger feelings than Hermione would admit she felt.

At first she had brushed it off, thinking she would eventually get over it, but throughout the following two years in school and the year spent on the run, the feelings of loss wouldn't go away. So she had made it her mission to bring him back. Her sole purpose in returning to Hogwarts for her seventh year, the only one of her age group to do so, was so that she could gain access to the library there and the texts that spoke of the veil that resided in the Department of Mysteries.

Once she had graduated from Hogwarts several universities and departments at the Ministry of Magic requested that she come and work for them, but the one job request she did not get was the one she had wanted the most, a position in the Department of Mysteries.

To this day Hermione wasn't sure what exactly it was that finally got her the position she wanted with the DOM, whether it was her intelligence; her fame as a member of the golden trio, the DA, and the Order; or the fact that she had waltzed right into the department and started spouting things about the department of mysteries that she should not have known and had requested an application for a job in exchange for her silence; whatever it was, it got her the job.

She spent the next two years searching for answers to how the veil worked and what would be required to bring someone back who had fallen through it. Ultimately the answer had resided in her own home, the newly remodeled Grimmauld Place (a project Harry, Ron and she had taken up in order to make the place a presentable and less black-hole-like place to live in). She had found the answers she had been seeking all along hiding in the furthest bookshelf from the door, covered in cobwebs and looking as if it had seen better days.

Unfortunately, the joy that came upon Sirius' return was short lived. Hermione, being the first person Sirius had seen, had been the one who was forced to tell him about Remus and Tonks' passing; resulting in the cataclysmic emotional shadow of a person Sirius was now forcing himself to be. If it hadn't been for the love Hermione knew she held for him, she would have given up on the brooding man long ago.

Around five o'clock, nearly three hours ago now, Hermione had climbed the steep sets of stairs to Sirius bedroom dressed in her costume of a glorified muggle equivalent of a vampire for the evening party at the Burrow. She had spent the better part of two weeks trying to find the perfect eye catching costume in hopes of somehow being able to catch Sirius' attention. Just yesterday had she come across the exact costume she hadn't known she had been looking for all along. The glorified muggle equivalent of a female vampire costume had been found in the absolute last store Hermione had reluctantly forced herself to go into.

The moment the dark red velvet strapless dress had caught her eye Hermione had fallen in love with the sexy gothic outfit and had bought it on the spot. The dress fit like a dream, clinging to every curve and stopping several inches above her knees. A short sleeve black leather trench coat like cape with a collar stereotypically associated with Dracula's cape that didn't wrap entirely around her form, connected only by a thick metal belt buckle at her waist, stretched further down her legs, stopping a few inches beneath her knees.

She had debated about whether or not to buy the spider web fishnet stockings that were sold with the outfit; but ultimately she had decided that the costume was more eye-catching with the stockings than without, and eye catching was definitely what she was after.

She had on a dark red velvet strapless dress that stopped several inches before her knees. A black leather cape was held on by the short sleeves she wore over her strapless dress and a black belt that wrapped around her waist. Her legs were covered by fishnet stockings and her black shiny boots were tall enough they reached almost to her knees. Black stiletto boots stretched up her legs to mid-calf where they stopped centemeters away from the edge of the cape.

Admittedly vanity played a large part in her search for accessories to go along with this sexy gothic costume, she was willing to do just about anything apart from going naked to get Sirius attention. Because of this, she had searched frantically for the perfect pieces of jewelry, ultimately ending with a choker that was made of black and red beads that stretched around her neck with an open-winged bat that rested in the hollow of her neck. Her earrings were much the same but with the bat hanging from a small string of black and red gems.

Her makeup had been done much more elaborately than she normally did, with her eyes wearing a blend of dark red and black eye shadow. Her lips were also painted with the corners being black and lightening into a dark red in the middle that had been charmed to stay that way.

On her journey to catch Sirius' notice, Hermione had thought finding the costume and the little things to go along with it would be the most difficult part. Needless to say, she was soon proved wrong when her hair turned out to be the most uncompromising part of the outfit. It had fought her at every turn, but in the end she had won, leaving her with long beautiful graceful brunette curls that hung low down her back with a streak of red on the right side of her hair.

The final touch to her costume hadn't been as difficult, but without it she would have just looked like a muggle witch or something. Using her wand she had elongated her canines to the point where they were clearly seen and notably like a muggle vampire's own fangs.

Upon reaching the door that had Sirius' name written on a gold plate nailed to the door Hermione had paused outside his door for a long moment, deciding what her next best course of action would be before ultimately deciding to simply try knocking first.

When her knock went unanswered three times Hermione finally gave up on that strategy and decided to just walk in, she did live here too after all. She had expected to find ward after ward piled onto the door, but to her surprise it was as easy as turning the knob and opening the door to a dimly lit room.

Hermione had to refrain from gasping when she caught sight of Sirius' form slouched in an armchair facing the wall of pictures that she had placed on one of his spacious walls when she had been put in charge of redecorating his room. The scarlet wall was covered in pictures of the Marauders, various Order members who were close with Sirius, a couple of DA members, and Harry, Ron, and herself.

Sirius definitely looked as if he had seen better days, he had dark circles under his eyes, scraggly whiskers, and his shaggy chin length hair was lanky and tangled. His clothes were rumpled and looked as if they had been worn for a couple of days and he looked as if he hadn't slept in weeks.

"Sirius?" Hermione had murmured as she neared him cautiously, "Are you alright?" immediately she felt dumb for having asked the question. She better than anyone knew how Sirius had felt when she had delivered the news of Remus' passing, now to see him looking much the same way he did back then, nearly two years ago…of course he wasn't alright!

Sirius numbly turned his head to look at her with blank eyes, saying nothing. Slowly his eyes skimmed from the bottom of her boots to the top of her head, "Where are you going?" his voice rasped, sounding as if it hadn't been used for a while.

Hermione forced a weak smile to her face, "Molly is throwing a costume party tonight, were you going to come?" she asked, though she was pretty sure he had no intention of leaving his chair.

Sirius' eyes softened a little as he dropped his gaze down to his rumpled clothes and back up at her, "I'm not really dressed for a party," he stated, "what are you supposed to be anyway?" he asked emotionlessly.

"A vampire," Hermione replied, not certain whether or not to take offence at his emotionless voice as he asked the question, "And we could dress you up fairly quickly, the party will last until who knows how early tomorrow morning, so it's not like we can be late. You really should come and get out of the house for a while Sirius."

Sirius gave a humorless laugh, "Is a man not allowed to wallow in his grief anymore?" he snapped with a glare before returning to look at the pictures.

Even now Hermione still wasn't sure what made her do it, but in the next three seconds something in her snapped, "They're _dead_ Sirius," she hissed back, "James, Lily, Remus, Tonks, they're all _dead_! Staring at their pictures won't bring them back!"

Sirius suddenly turned toward her and jerked out of his seat, more fire and anger in his gray eyes then she had ever seen before. Hermione nearly took a step back in momentary fear, before remembering herself and straitening her posture to be strong and unwavering she opened her mouth and went to go on but Sirius cut her off.

"Don't you dare talk about them like that! You have no right, you didn't know them! What would you know about how I'm feeling anyway? It's not exactly something you can simply read about in some stupid book and understand!" Sirius shouted at her, stepping closer until he was toe to toe with her, towering over her small frame; yet she still didn't back down.

"I lost people too Sirius! So did Harry and the Weasleys! I lost Fred and my _parents_! And Tonks and Remus were my friends too you know! I _know _how you are feeling, but not everyone locks themselves up to have their own privet pity party! You don't see Harry doing anything like this do you? I would think out of anyone _he_ would have the most right to feel upset over everything that has happened over the course of that stupid war! Yet _he's_ the one who is out living life, _he's_ the one who has a job and a family he actively participates in, and _he's_ the one who is still taking care of his _godson_ who lost _his_ _parents_, despite the fact that Harry has absolutely _no idea_ how to do that because his _own_ godfather won't get over himself!" Hermione was rambling angrily, but she didn't care. She had gone through a lot of trouble for tonight and he was ruining it.

Hermione paused in her rant to take a breath, "You haven't even _met_ Teddy yet. You've been back for two years Sirius, two _years_ and you still haven't met Harry's godson, your best friends little boy. You barely leave the house, you don't even attempt to take pleasure in the freedom we all worked so hard for you to be able to enjoy," Hermione paused and made sure she was looking Sirius dead in the eye, "I don't even know why I brought you back to begin with sometimes. I gave you a chance at finally being able to live your life, and you won't take it."

Taking a deep breath Hermione closed her eyes briefly and turned on her heel to head towards the door. She knew if she stayed any longer she would definitely end up saying something she would regret. When her hand reached the doorknob Sirius voice asked brokenly, "Why _did_ you bring me back?"

Slowly Hermione turned to face the tortured looking man, "I brought you back because I thought that you deserved a second chance; because there were people here who still needed you. Harry needed someone to help him remember his parents, to tell him funny stories and to look up to no matter what. Teddy deserves the same, neither of them knew their parents as well as you did, but instead of telling them about those days, you sit in here and wallow. I brought you back because _you weren't really_ _dead_, and you didn't deserve to have such a horrible life up until the moment you fell behind the veil only to suffer in endless nothingness for the rest of eternity until someone could come and rescue you."

Hermione could see his eyes searching her face, as if trying to find that one last reason she had brought him back that she swore he would never know about; she closed her eyes. She was in love with him, but could she ever tell him so? Would it make a difference to him or would it just make him hate her? Taking a deep breath she thought 'What the heck? He might as well know everything; even if it makes him hate me at least it would make him feel _something_ again.'

"I brought you back," she started, her eyes still closed, "Because I couldn't face a world without you in it. I love you too much to try, and I couldn't rest until I knew you were either dead or until I somehow managed to bring you back from whatever prison you were stuck in. That's why I brought you back Sirius," she murmured softly suddenly opening her eyes again, "Because there are people here who still love and need you; because _I _need you."

The two stood in silence staring at one another for a long time, Sirius trying to comprehend the words she had just spoken, and Hermione waiting for the inevitable blow up. Instead there was nothing, no change in emotion, no flicker in his eyes, just a blank look. She officially didn't know which was worse, the blowup she had been expecting or this dumb silence.

Taking a shuddering breath Hermione tried to keep the tears from shedding, "I'll see you around Sirius," she whispered before she apparated out of the house seconds before she could hear Sirius calling her name and begging her not to leave.

She had apparated herself to the outskirts of the Weasley's property, but upon seeing all the bright happy lights and the laughing crowds of people she would normally revel in, she couldn't think of anything she'd like to do less than go and join the party. After a moment's thought she turned and apparated herself to the one place she could remember feeling completely peaceful, Godric's Hollow cemetery.

Hermione had been completely unsurprised to find the graveyard deserted. Silently she walked over to the graves of the very people Sirius had been lamenting for the past two years. It had taken much string pulling on the golden trio's part, but eventually they had managed to have the graves of Remus, Tonks, and (much to the rest of the world's dismay) Severus Snape placed near James and Lily Potter's own graves, with headstones that were elaborate enough to warrant attention. In fact, any person who died during the war who was fighting for the light was given a headstone similar to theirs by the Ministry, after much coercing on the Order's part.

She stared down at the graves, feeling mixed emotions about whether or not she had any right to be here, James and Lily were, after all, not her parents or even her friends. Severus had tolerated her at best; but Remus and Tonks _were_ her friends, they were the ones she had turned to when things got rough and people her own age wouldn't understand.

Slowly the tears started to fall, and even if she had wanted to she wouldn't have been able to focus hard enough to leave the graves, so she slid silently down to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest and letting herself cry her heart out.

So here she is, nearly an hour later, softly talking to the graves of her best friend's family, explaining the worries of her heart. All dressed up and nowhere to go.

"I know you probably think it's a little odd of me to be here talking to your graves, but I can't think of anywhere else to go. To be honest, I'm kind of surprised Sirius doesn't come here himself. Maybe he would be happier if he did," she said softly, "I just want him to be happy."

Just then Hermione heard a twig snapping behind her, without second thought Hermione was on her feet and shifting into her wolf animagus form, growling at the intruder with her fangs bared and brown hackles raised; feeling much more powerful and capable of defending herself in her wolf form than as a human at the moment. Then she caught sight of just who it was that had tried to sneak up on her.

Hermione didn't stop her growling even after recognizing the man, but allowed her anger to take over, taking a perverse pleasure in the astonished and slightly worried look on Sirius face. As she watched him sweat for a while, she slowly began to realize the significance of what was going on. First, Sirius was out of the house for the first time in a long while and second, it looked as if he had cleaned himself up…a lot. His hair was clean and neatly combed and he had changed out of his rumpled clothes into a pair of black slacks, shiny shoes, a white long sleeved button up shirt with a black waist coat that had random swirls on it in a dark red.

Slowly her confusion took over her anger at the man standing in front of her and her growling stopped. She studied him a moment more before slowly shifting back into her human form. Hermione had forgotten how amazing Sirius could look when he actually wanted to, and she was slightly irritated to realize that her heart was still pounding, not in fear and anger, but in a sort of hopeful excitement.

"Hermione?" Sirius finally broke the silence, his voice filled with incredulousness, Hermione simply raised her eyebrow in response, it may have been dark, but being a canine animagus herself she knew that he could see her well enough to catch the small movement, "When did you learn how to…?" Sirius trailed off, not quite certain he had seen what he thought; maybe he _had_ been cooped up in the house to long.

"…How to become an animagus?" Hermione finished for him, her voice colder than usual, " If you had bothered listening to anything I ever said after I told you about Remus' death you would already know the answer, I gave it to you nearly a year ago," she snapped, "What are you doing here?"

Sirius snorted in derision, "I could ask you the same thing, they were my friends last time I checked," he responded, his eyes dimming.

Hermione didn't lessen her stance, "Remus and Tonks were my friends too Sirius," she stated, " And I mean why are you here _now_?"

"I…"Sirius hesitated, dropping his eyes from her face to look at the ground, "You were right, as usual. I have been so wrapped up in me and everything that has gone wrong in my life that I…I let the people I care about who are still alive fall into the cracks," Sirius moved to stare down at the graves of his friends, "I just keep wondering what I couldn't have done to change their fate, it's sad to think that one word from me could have changed or determined the fate of my friends, sometimes it almost kills me to think about the things I could have done differently."

Hermione didn't know whether to roll her eyes or cry some more, Sirius was obviously torn up inside, but at the same time, it had been years, she had let him wallow for too long, "You know what I think is sad?" Hermione finally replied softly, moving to stand so she was facing him as she stood at his side, "What's sad, is that no matter how many times you play the what if game, reality never changes; what's sad is that while you still continue to grieve for your friends years after they have died, I've watched so many families, not the least of which being the Weasleys, deal with the deaths of their loved ones. What's sad is that even _George_ who lost his _twin_ has somehow managed to find something to be happy about again," Hermione's voice grew firmer as she spoke.

"What's sad is that I've had to watch Harry loose his godfather not once, not twice, but _three times_ because you continually think of you, your problems, and your feelings. He lost you when you decided to chase down and try and kill Pettigrew, he lost you a second time when you refused to stay at Grimmauld place where you would be safe and ended up falling through the veil, and he lost you a third time when I brought you back from that veil only to have you refuse to willingly leave that stupid house."

Hermione took a deep breath, noting that Sirius' shoulders seemed to be drooping, but she wasn't done yet, "What's sad is that Andy Tonks continues to think that she is the last of the Black line besides Draco still alive who isn't insane. She can't prove to herself otherwise because she refuses to come to the house to see for herself if you are really alive as a result of some oath she made once upon a time never to go back there; and all the while you refuse to leave the one place she won't go. What's sad, is that Teddy only gets to learn things about his father that Harry can tell him, and Harry only knows so much. You are the only surviving piece of their little family, you are both Teddy's cousin and uncle in a way, but you won't even try to see him.

"And the worst of all of these is," Hermione continued softly, "is that despite the fact that I didn't know James and Lily, I did know Remus and Tonks, and if James and Lily were as good of friends as Remus and Tonks were, I know for a fact that not one of them would want you to be wasting your second chance at life away wishing for things that cannot and will not ever happen."

Sirius now looked as if the weight of the world had been put on his shoulders, and Hermione didn't like the sight, but she needed him to understand that his actions weren't just affecting him, but everyone else as well, "Harry needs you; he needs that father figure he has only slightly found in Mr. Weasley. Teddy needs you to tell him stories and let him do things even Harry won't let him do. And…" Hermione hesitated, "I need you, even if you just go back to being that Sirius that I would spend several late nights talking and arguing with."

Hermione slowly moved to place a hand on his arm, "Please don't shut us out anymore Sirius," she whispered, rubbing her thumb in soothing circles, "We can only help you if you let us."

Sirius didn't move for a long time, and for a while Hermione thought maybe he was angry at her, but then he turned and pulled her into a tight hug, "The thing that is making me feel the worst," he murmured, "Is that I have long accepted the deaths of all of my friends. The what if's come as a result of knowing that Harry and Teddy and others," Sirius paused and hugged her tighter, "even you," he whispered in her hair, "need me. They need me to be someone they can rely on, who can tell them stories and be their friend, be everything James and Remus can't be, everything you just said, and that terrifies me. I don't know how to be the person they need; who _you_ need," the last part was murmured earnestly.

Hermione froze, her heart beginning to pound painfully in her chest, but she didn't dare move or say anything. Turns out she didn't have to as seconds later Sirius pulled back and looked down at her with his dark grey eyes gazing intently at her, "Did you mean it when you said you loved me?" he asked her softly, moving to brush a small curl out of her face.

Numbly Hermione nodded, but she couldn't make herself say anything out loud. Sirius sighed heavily, but his eyes lightened, "You shouldn't do that, people who do that tend to end up dead," he spoke softly, not moving away from her, "But Merlin knows I'm too selfish to ask you to stop."

Hermione was certain her heart was about to give out, shakily she managed to force out a quiet, "Why?"

Sirius eyes were flicking kindly over her face, "Because throughout the last two years of my being back, and multiple times long before that, you were the one person who didn't leave me to my brooding. You made me food, you tried to talk to me and you didn't let me go too far down the dark road of my thoughts. I guess you could say you were my light at the end of the tunnel. Somewhere along the past two years I fell for you. I've never actually loved anyone the way I love you, and I was terrified that if I even hinted that I might feel that way, you would turn tail and run in the opposite direction."

Hermione couldn't help the small smile she gave him, "I'm not sure whether to be complimented or offended by that comment," she said lightly.

Sirius gave a weak attempt at a smile back, "I was intending for a compliment, but it did sound rather judging didn't it? It's just that I'm so much older than you are; I mean, you're what, nineteen? And I-," Hermione cut him off with a small laugh.

"First of all, I'm twenty-four Sirius," she told him with a twinkle in her eye, "And the veil reversed your body age to make you look only twenty-six or twenty-seven, which to the rest of the world who doesn't know the real you, makes us only two years apart. Second, all of our friends and family would be so absolutely overjoyed to see you and me finally getting together and being happy that they would completely ignore the real twenty or so years age difference. Third, even if you looked your age, you have never acted like it, and I have always been more mature then the men my own age, so I think it would be fair to say that our minds are about the same age anyway. And fourth—"

"How long does this list go on for?" Sirius joked, his eyes brighter than they day she had brought him back, and his shoulders straitening as if her words were shoving the world away from his shoulders back to where it belonged…somewhere else.

Hermione smiled, "I have over ninety-three arguable reasons why we should be together; now stop interrupting and let me con—"

"Just how long have you been thinking about this, love?" Sirius asked softer than he had before, honestly curious.

Hermione shrugged and looked up at him nervously, "Do you want the before the veil timeline, during, or after?" she replied before dropping her gaze from his face to stare intently at her fingers which were playing with the buttons on his waistcoat.

Sirius couldn't stop the wide smile that spread across his face for the first time since his return, "How long before the veil are we talking?" he inquired, his eyes twinkling. Hermione mumbled something that she knew Sirius would never hear, making him give a small chuckle, "What was that love?" he asked teasingly.

"Are we talking love or crushes?" Hermione said only slightly louder.

"_You_ had a _crush_ on _me_?"Sirius asked incredulously, with a small bark of laughter, "I thought Remus would have been the one you set those beautiful eyes of yours on," he told her.

Hermione felt a blush spread up her neck, this was not what she had planned for this evening, "It was Remus during my third year, but then during our fourth year you were always so worried and supportive of Harry that I guess I started to like you a lot more. Then during that summer before my fifth year we would have all of those talks and arguments, you remember?"

Sirius felt a lump move into his throat and tried to clear it away, "I remember, it was one of the only times anyone treated me as something other than a prisoner. Remus and Harry were the only two who spoke as openly to me as you did. It meant a lot to me."

Hermione gave him a small nervous smile, "Well it meant a lot to me too, you and Remus were the only two who talked to me like I knew anything, everyone else just expected me to know only as much as Harry and Ron and to act just like Harry and Ron, despite the multiple occasions I have had to prove that I am, in fact, the _only_ reason that Ron and Harry are still alive. But anyway, those talks with you were about when I started to fall in love with you, but I didn't know it until that night at the Ministry after you were gone."

Hermione went on to briefly describe to him the way he had affected the reasons she had gone back to school and the job she had decided to have, ultimately resulting in his return, "But then things ended up all wrong, you were unhappy and Harry was sad that you were unhappy, and I couldn't do anything to change the way you were feeling. Remus was always the one person I knew I could turn to for an objective opinion about things in my life, so when he was buried here I started to come here. Even back when Riddle was on the rise and Harry and I were hiding, when we came here, everything bad just seemed to disappear for a minute. It still feels like that here."

Sirius nodded and pulled Hermione closer to him, causing her to move close enough that she could rest her head on his chest, right over his heart, "It's an ancient spell," he started to explain for lack of knowing what else to say, "It was originally intended to give the dead a sense of peace and rest in the afterlife and it was just a bonus that it happened to work for those visiting the cemeteries as well. There are very few wizarding cemeteries that still have the charm performed on them anymore, but Godric's Hollow, being as old as it is, is one of them."

Hermione nestled her head into his chest more firmly, beginning to feel the chill that told her that her previously placed warming charm was beginning to wear off, "Have you come here since you came back?" she asked him softly, glad when his arms came up to encircle her in their warmth more fully.

Sirius shook his head, "I couldn't," he told her quietly, "I was actually on my way to that party you told me about to go and find you, when something pulled me here first. I haven't been here since James told me that he wanted to be buried next to his family here. At the time we both thought he was just being overly sentimental, but now…"

Hermione pulled back a little to look up at Sirius' face and couldn't stop herself from reaching a hand up to smooth across his jaw and into his hair softly, "I'm sorry," she murmured, "For everything, for the loss of your friends, for the things I said to you earlier, and for growling at you just a while ago."

Sirius looked down at her, "To be honest, you are the one person still alive besides Harry who could say or do anything even remotely like that who I would forgive in a heartbeat. You always know exactly what I need to hear, and you're not afraid to say it. I think you're right also," he told her, "James would probably beat me within an inch of my life if he found me living like this, and Remus would give me some long lecture about how he expected more from me, and blah blah blah…" Sirius trailed off and his eyes seemed as if he were lost in the past. Finally he spoke again, "Did you know that our first year at Hogwarts we all made an oath that no matter what we would always do our best to make those around us smile? I'd forgotten about it, but being here, talking to you," Sirius shook his head, "It just makes me remember the important things."

Hermione smiled softly up at him, she didn't know what else to say except "I love you," she told him firmly, "In case I didn't make that clear, I do love you Sirius."

Sirius smiled back at her, "I know, and I love you too, but if you really want to give this a shot, you have to know that my playboy days are over. If we're doing this, it's not going to be half heartedly, I intend to keep you Hermione Granger," he murmured, his face nearing hers.

Normally Hermione would have taken offence at the thought that he could 'keep' her, as if she were some sort of possession, but the way he said it, so softly and with so much love in his voice, Hermione couldn't help but remain silent, watching Sirius closely as his eyes dropped to her lips and back to her eyes. He seemed to be asking for some sort of permission to kiss her, but her brain was so hazy she couldn't fathom why.

Finally her patience snapped, and without a second thought Hermione propelled herself onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips softly against his. Sirius stood frozen for a minute, slightly startled and disbelieving that she had been the first to initiate the kiss and that she actually wanted to kiss him; but just as he felt her begin to pull away he barely suppressed a moan as his hand came up to bury itself in her long curly hair as he pulled her lips back to meet his once more.

There were no fireworks, per say; but a pleasant humming that filled her body and lifted her soul seemed to buzz through them both, leaving them both breathless, but unwilling to separate for more than a few milliseconds for breath. The world around them ceased to exist, everything was honed in on Sirius and the amazing things he was making her feel as he kissed her with more skill than she had ever considered he had. At least now she knew why he was such a lady's man back in school.

They kissed for who knows how long before Sirius finally managed to make himself part his lips from hers, moving to kiss from her jaw down her neck and back to her ear, pleased with the shuddering breaths Hermione was forcing herself to breath. Slowly he returned his lips to hers, kissing her as sweetly as he knew how, hoping to convey every emotion he had to her, wanting more than anything for her to understand him and how he felt, both about her and about the things that had happened in his past.

Eventually he became aware of the feeling of wetness that was covering Hermione's cheeks as he kissed her and he raised his hands to tenderly brush the tears away as he slowly pulled back, "What's wrong Angel?" he asked her softly, his eyes searching hers for answers to some unknown question.

Hermione shook her head and raised her hands to cover Sirius' large warm ones cradling her face, "You've had to deal with so much," she eventually told him, "I don't know how you did it all."

Sirius gave a weak but real smile, "I had you there to help me through most of it," he replied, "But I don't think I'm the only one that has had it rough," he sighed, "Even though I may act like it, I am aware enough to realize that there are others who are suffering still," Sirius searched her face gently, "What did you mean earlier when you said you'd lost your parents?"

Hermione felt her eyes widen before they began to fill with more tears but forced them down, "I had to send my parents to Australia to hide, and the only way they would go was if I erased their memories of me. But when I went to find them after the war, they weren't where I had left them, so I guess you could say they were lost. But then I found them; they were buried in a muggle cemetery in Newcastle. It was so silly," she said with a depreciating shake of her head, "I had warded them so heavily against magical means of death that I completely forgot about the muggle ones. They were killed in a car accident, a head on collision with a drunk."

Sirius' eyes widened, "I'm so sorry Angel; that must have been horrible," he murmured before dipping to kiss her quickly, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Sadly, Hermione gazed up at him, "You had your own problems, I couldn't go and lay all of mine on you as well," she commented with a shrug, "Besides, it happened before you came back, before I even started trying to bring you back in fact."

"Well from now on, no more secrets okay?" Sirius stated firmly, surprised when almost immediately Hermione dropped her gaze from his, "What is it Hermione?" he asked.

Hermione winced as his hands slid down her arms to lace with her fingers, she had the feeling he wasn't about to like the story she knew she had to tell him. Slowly she looked back up at the man she had been dreaming about for the last five or so years, "You're not going to like it, but let's just say that I probably hate your cousin Bellatrix more than you do, and leave it at that," she tried.

Sirius felt his heart freeze and drop into his stomach as he prayed hopelessly to whatever deity there was that his cousin had never laid a finger on the woman he loved, "No, we're not going to leave it at that Hermione, what happened?" he demanded to know.

Absently Hermione untangled her right hand from his and lifted it to rub across the scar that resided under several concealment charms on her forearm. Sirius fallowed this movement with his eyes, watching the way her eyes glazed over as they jumped into a past he hadn't been a part of.

"Hermione?" he tried again, "What is it love?" When Hermione didn't answer Sirius silently pulled out his wand and pointed it at Hermione's arm where she was rubbing it, not actually intending to find anything, but not completely surprised when he did.

Hermione frowned as she felt the magic on her arm relax and then disappear, bringing her back to the present. She looked down at her arm and frowned when she noticed that the scar was now visible and that Sirius was tugging her arm up so that he could see it better, "Sirius," she started, but was interrupted by his loud gasp when he caught sight of the word 'Mudblood' that had been carved into her arm nearly five years ago.

"How did this happen?" Sirius demanded to know, "When did you let her get close enough to do this to you?"

Hermione sighed, "Sirius, calm down," she tried, but it didn't work, she tried several more times to get him to stop yelling before she gave up with the talking route and ended up pressing her lips tightly against his, effectively muffling his words. After she felt she had kissed him thoroughly enough she gently pulled away, "Now will you listen to me?" she asked gently smoothing some hair away from his face as she mentally laughed at the dazed look on his face.

"When I told you about what you had missed during the war, I only managed to tell you a little about the Final Battle and the various deaths that resulted from that; I saw right away that your mind had shut down and couldn't handle anymore at the time. There is a very long, very terrible story that proceeds that day, but we don't have time for me to tell it all to you right now. Maybe later tonight or tomorrow I can explain to you everything that happened, but for now, I'll tell you about this scar because I know it will bother you all night if I don't."

Hermione took a deep breath and began to tell the short version of what happened to her, "Harry, Ron, and I were all caught by snatchers, which was a group of people hired to hunt down muggleborns and half bloods that hadn't been registered with the ministry. They took us to Malfoy Manor because they suspected who we were. Once there, Bellatrix got angry at us for reasons that will be explained later, and decided the easiest way to torture all of us was to torture me. So she did, she carved this into my arm, and cut me up in other places. But when I refused to tell her what she wanted to know, she let Greyback have a go at me."

Hermione closed her eyes trying to block the images, "Long story short, the two switched off until Harry, Ron, and Dobby managed to come and rescue me. While they weren't looking I managed to conceal the wound from them," Hermione looked up at Sirius' tense face, "You're the first person besides me and Remus to see it."

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows, "Remus?" he asked, his anger at his cousin momentarily forgotten, "Why did he get to see it?"

Hermione looked as if she hadn't intended for Remus to see the wound but it had happened anyway, "He came to the hideout Dobby took the three of us to a little after we got there. That night I was out on the back porch trying to stop the bleeding and in order to do so I had to take off the concealment charms. Remus heard me with those sometimes annoying werewolf senses of his and came out to see what was going on. He saw the wound and for the first time I saw him get mad enough that his eyes turned a golden amber. After he had calmed himself down he apologized and set about helping me heal the wound."

Something was bothering Sirius about this moment, Hermione could tell, "What's wrong?" she asked him searching his face for any sign of an answer.

"Were you in love with him?" Sirius asked, looking slightly dejected.

Hermione couldn't help it, she laughed, "Merlin no, Remus was like a…brother or an uncle to me, he was the first person I ever told about being in love with you, despite the fact that at the time we all thought you were dead. Before you ask, no, he didn't even remotely look at me like anything other than a sister or a daughter of some sort, he was absolutely in love with Tonks; it was intense to watch him watch her sometimes."

Sirius looked relieved, "So you weren't in love with my best friend?" he clarified.

Hermione nodded, "That is correct, now I think you should apologize to Remus for doubting his loyalty to your cousin," she stated with a small smile.

Sirius' eyes never left hers as he spoke, "I'm sorry Moony for ever doubting your loyalty to Nymph," he stated, "And thank you so much for being there for my Angel when I couldn't be, I owe you a giant bar of Honeyduke's chocolate whenever I get to join you and Prongs."

"Which hopefully won't be for a very long time," Hermione added, "Sorry Moony, but I just got him back, I'm not letting him go."

"Good," Sirius responded with a soft smile, pulling her closer, "Now what do you say we surprise a few friends of ours and make an appearance at that party you were telling me about?"

Hermione smiled back and pressed a quick kiss to Sirius' lips, "I say that that sounds like an extraordinary idea."

Fin

A/N: So the ending felt a little rushed to me, but in the end I decided I didn't know how to change it without going on for another couple thousand words. Maybe if you lot are kind and review I can give you an epilogue of some sort (maybe a meeting between Sirius and Teddy? Anyone interested?) Let me know what you'd like and please please please review!

Until next time!

M-M-G

A/N 2: So I went back and read this story and found so many errors I was soooo embarrassed…so thank you to all of you who reviewed anyway! I have written a second chapter that should be up fairly soon!


	2. Meeting Teddy

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter as sad and as hard as it is to believe…I just don't. ^_^

A/N: Thank you to all of you who read the first chapter even when it was so horribly written with the worst possible title ever! It meant a lot! Hopefully this next chapter lives up to your expectations!

Love and Halloween Part 2: Meeting Teddy

The lights and noises were more than he had expected.

Hermione looked worriedly up at Sirius' tense face and squeezed his hand, "They'll be so glad to see you Sirius," she told him softly as they slowly began to make their way up the dirt road to the party being held in the back yard area of the Burrow.

Sirius didn't say anything; instead he simply tightened his hold on her hand. As they drew nearer to the house his grip became more and more tight until Hermione finally pulled him to a stop, "Talk to me Sirius," she demanded firmly with a kind look.

Sirius looked down at her and couldn't resist pulling her in for a kiss, glad to finally be able to so whenever he wished, "I'm just worried about how they'll react. I mean, Harry may be happy to see me, but what about everyone else? Like you said, I didn't lose a twin or a daughter…_is _Andy going to be there?" Sirius asked as he referenced Tonk's death.

With a small nod Hermione reached up to hold Sirius' face in her hands, "Yes, Andy will be there," she said, "And the only person who won't be happy to see you will be that snake Mundungus Fletcher, but it will be purely because you are lucky enough to be with me, something he has unfortunately been trying to be for the last three years or so."

Sirius frowned for a second before his expression turned mischievous, "So I've got some competition huh?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and gave a small laugh, "Hardly," she smiled, "The only thing that has kept Dung from being literally dung for the rest of his life is the fact that there have always been too many witnesses around who could point fingers and name names…" Hermione paused, "Though as I think about it, Draco probably would have turned a blind eye…"

Sirius frowned, "That's the second time you've called that boy by his first name, when were the two of you close enough for him to be able to turn a blind eye?"

Hermione gave Sirius a perplexed look before remembering that he obviously hadn't been paying attention the several times that she had spoken to him, "Draco is one of my best friends," she started, only to be cut off by Sirius' exclamation.

"What?" he yelped in surprise, "You and that git are _friends?"_ he demanded incredulously, "His aunt almost killed you Mione!"

Hermione blinked at him, "Your _cousin_ almost killed me Sirius," she stated in a you're-being-stupid voice, causing Sirius to stop and think at her comment, "Draco was a spy for Harry from midway through our sixth year through the end of the war. He is like a brother to me and you will treat him with respect," she commanded firmly, "You two are so much alike it's scary sometimes," she told him with a soft smile, "He left his family for the light side, abandoning his mother who his father killed not long after the final battle before attempting to kill Draco as well. He and I are like an adopted family, get used to it," she stated, leaving no room for argument.

"I'm not sure how to respond to all of this," Sirius told her honestly, "Malfoys have never been good news, they've always been a dark pureblood supremacist family."

Hermione shook her head in mock incredulousness, raising an eyebrow, "So were the Blacks," she stated in a tone that matched her voice, "And for the record, Draco hasn't believed in pureblood supremacy since third year when I broke his nose."

Sirius scratched the back of his neck, "I guess I'll reserve judgment until I actually meet the kid then," he sighed.

Hermione gave a small giggle, "Sirius, you only look a little older than he does," she teased, "Do you really think you should be calling him a kid?"

Sirius smiled and winked, "I call you kid don't I?" he teased back, wrapping an arm around her neck and pulling her closer so he could press a kiss to her hair, "I love you," he murmured, his face turning serious once more.

Hermione nodded, "I love you too," she replied with a quick kiss, "Now quit stalling, let's go meet this grand-cousin-godson-almost-nephew of yours, and prove to everyone you are in fact still alive."

As Hermione started off towards the corner of the house that once they moved past would leave them in the open for everyone to see, Sirius stopped. Feeling Sirius stop moving behind her, Hermione turned to look at him in confusion, "Sirius?" she asked with a soft tug on his hand.

"I…Just give me a minute okay Angel?" he softly asked, "You go on ahead I'll come around in a second, I just have to get my thoughts together alright?"

Hermione studied him closely for a minute before nodding in agreement, "I'll give you ten minutes, but if you don't come over there by yourself by then, I will come get you and drag you back from wherever you disappeared to," she stated seriously, "No more running away."

Sirius tugged her closer to him and pressed a long slow kiss to her lips that stole her breath away, "No more running away," he murmured in agreement as he let go of her and her hand and let her walk around the corner of the house and into the large throng of people if the noise was anything to go by.

Slowly he moved to rest his back against the side of the house, trying fruitlessly to convince himself that he was man enough to walk around the corner and face all his old friends for what for some would be the first time since his return. Looking back Sirius knew Hermione was right, it had been selfish of him to shut himself away, but now he was too anxious about what they would think about him, about _them_ to be able to walk into the middle of their party square shouldered.

With a soft groan Sirius slid his back down the wall until he was sitting on the cool ground with his knees bent, unheeding of the nice clothes he wore and the dirt and slight dampness they were inevitably going have soaked up once he managed to convince himself to stand back up.

Once again he had managed to screw up, James and Lily had entrusted the care of their son to him, and three times he had failed them, more than three if you count all the times Harry had been in trouble and he hadn't been there to help him throughout the years.

But then there was Hermione, wonderful, brave, intelligent, beautiful Hermione; how was it possible for such an angel to love him as much as he loved her? It was like a dream. Realistically he knew that he could easily walk into the throng of people with and for her, Merlin, he would walk through fire for her, but it still didn't stop him from worrying. What would her friends say? What would _Harry_ say?

Just then a little boy about five or six dressed in a mini Hogwarts uniform came flying around the corner of the house. The boy looked frantically around for a moment without stopping, restlessly shoving the round glasses up his nose just as he caught sight of Sirius. In a split second the little boy was sitting on the ground beside him, breathing hard.

Sirius froze, then slowly turned his head to look down at the little boy who looked a lot like his own godson. Sirius had to do a double take once he actually looked directly at the little boy sitting just inches away from him, he even had the lightning bolt scar!

Just then the boy looked up at Sirius with his emerald green eyes. The two stared at each other for a second, Sirius trying to figure out how this boy looked just like Harry; and who-knew-what running through the boy's mind. Suddenly the boy lifted his hand and slowly waved it in a half circle at Sirius, a determined look on his face, "You don't see anything," the boy stated seriously.

Sirius blinked, had he finally lost his mind?

Just as Sirius was about to open his mouth and say something, the sound of someone else turning around the corner had him turning to see who was coming. It was Harry, looking simultaneously frustrated and amused.

"Where are you, you little nargle?" Harry muttered to himself, looking straight at Sirius before turning his head to look in the bushes a little ways away, "You've got to be around here somewhere!" Harry exclaimed with a shake of his head.

Sirius felt numb, Harry was ignoring him. It was like his worst nightmare come true. Sirius looked over to his left where the little boy was sitting, only to find that the boy was missing. Confused Sirius lifted his hand to nudge the body he could still feel next to him, only to find that he couldn't see his arm. This caused Sirius to drop his eyes to look down at the rest of him.

Well no wonder Harry was ignoring him, he couldn't even see him; and something told Sirius the little boy next to him had something to do with it.

Almost as soon as Sirius came to this conclusion Hermione rounded the corner, "Did you find him?" she asked Harry, her eyes tracing over the spot Sirius had stood just minutes ago sadly thinking Sirius must have gone home.

Harry shook his head, "Was I this mischievous when I was a boy?" he asked with a roll of his eyes, "Or for that matter were any of the Marauders? Poor Victoire, Teddy sure has it out for her," Harry shook his head with a small smile on his face.

"Well you know how they are," Hermione laughed, her eyes still drifting back to the last place she had seen Sirius, "Besides, you didn't have the chance to reek as much havoc as he does, especially on your cousin, I think you're just jealous."

Sirius didn't like not being able to be seen by the two most important people in his life. Just as he was about to stand up and talk to them, regardless of whether they would think they were being haunted or not, the boy next to him reached out and grabbed his arm. Almost immediately Sirius found himself incapable of moving or speaking; what kind of demon was this child?

Harry turned to leave, mentioning something about going to look in the kitchen under the sink, and Hermione nodded, looking one last time in the direction Sirius had once been standing. Desperately Sirius wanted to shout to her that he was still there that he hadn't left, he was shouting her name so loudly in his head, but no sound came out.

However, much to his surprise, Hermione's head whipped around to look directly at him, "Sirius?" she murmured, her eyes probing the wall, and her mind reaching out to find the mind that had been shouting. Seconds later she smiled, shook her head, and turned to walk away, "Have fun you two," she laughed softly.

Sirius sat back relieved she knew he hadn't left, though how he wasn't sure. Now he just had to figure out how this little demon was holding him hostage and why Hermione didn't seem the least bit concerned. Almost as soon as Hermione disappeared from sight Sirius found himself able to move once more. He turned his head to look at the boy in astonishment, "Who are you?" he demanded, not feeling threatened in the least, but still feeling slightly apprehensive.

The boy looked at him, then past him to the corner of the house, "Is anyone else coming?" he asked in a stage whisper.

Sirius stared at the kid, "No," he replied after a few moments.

The boy smiled brightly, "Ah," he sighed, "Sweet freedom," the boy rested his head against the wall behind him, acting as if he were in his twenties rather than only five or six.

Sirius waited, unsure of what to think about the Harry Potter look alike. Just as he was about to ask his question again the boy looked up at him with a mischievous smile, only for the smile to suddenly disappear as the boy blinked up at him.

The kid reached his smallish hands up, pulled of his glasses and rubbed his eyes before turning to look at Sirius once more, looking astonished and gleeful at the same time, "Uncle Padfoot?" he exclaimed.

Now it was Sirius' turn to be astonished and surprised, he hadn't met anyone who called him that except little Harry once upon a time, except it had sounded more like unca padoot back then. He studied the boy, there was no way he was Harry's son but—"Are you Teddy?" he asked in response.

The boy's grin widened as he nodded, "You _are_ Uncle Padfoot!" he laughed, "Awesome! You're a real Marauder!"

Sirius couldn't help the small grin that spread across his face at the star struck look on the boys face, "I sure am," he replied, "How old are you?" he questioned the kid, trying to stop himself from worrying about what things Teddy had been told about him.

"I'm six," Teddy declared, "Only Uncle George keeps trying to tell me that I'm only three, but I _know_ I'm not. They all still treat me like a kid, but I'm _not_. I'm six years old…that's a whole two years older than Tori!"

Sirius nodded his head, sympathizing with the kid; that was the way it had been with him and Regulus, "I feel your pain kid. But can I ask you something?" he asked.

Teddy nodded, "Is it a secret?" he asked excitedly.

"No," Sirius started, going to explain that you couldn't ask about secrets, but Teddy went on.

"Darn it," he sighed, "I'm a good secret keeper," he stated, "I mean, I never told anyone that it was actually Uncle _George_ that ate Grandma Molly's prize winning pie. _I _took the blame, _I _took the punishment, _I _listened to Grandma Molly and Grandma Andy go on and on and _on_ for _hours_ about how _disappointed _they were that I ate the _whole _ pie _all by myself_, which if I really had done would be quite the accomplishment…at least that's what Aunt Mione said. But I didn't tell _anybody_ and so now Uncle George _owes_ me!" Teddy exclaimed emphatically.

Sirius stared down at the kid, that was some tirade, "You have _George Weasley_ in your debt?" he clarified, Teddy nodded, so Sirius simply shook his head and went back to his original question, "So who exactly is Victoire?" he asked.

Teddy frowned, "She's my frienemy," he stated as if that meant anything, "She is Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's daughter, sometimes she's really nice, but sometimes she is really really _really_ spoiled. So we're frienemies."

Sirius blinked and was about to ask another question when Teddy slapped his hand on Sirius lips and Sirius found himself immobile once more. He could only guess they were invisible as well, despite the fact that he could still see Teddy, because of the fact that when Bill Weasley rounded the corner with a crying blue haired girl in his arms, he seemed completely unaware of the two Black descendants staring at them.

"Kill 'im daddy," the girl was wailing, "Kill 'im!"

Teddy shook his head in irritation at the girl as Bill continued on his path to the front of the house disappearing around the other corner, whispering comforting words to his daughter, despite the small smile that was on his lips.

Sirius soon found himself capable of movement again, but before he could scold Teddy, the boy was shaking his head and pacing in front of him, "Honestly, all I did was put one of Uncle George's hair changers in her water!" he proclaimed, "It's not the end of the world!"

Sirius raised an eye brow as he watched the boy, "Was that why your godfather was looking for you?" he asked.

Teddy paused, turned to look at Sirius, blinked, and sighed, "Okay fine, so I _also_ put one of Uncle George's mini whiz bangs on her plate, it was wrong, but it was _funny!_ people were _laughing_," Teddy waved his arms around to elaborate his words, "Honestly she is such a _girl_."

Without further thought Sirius couldn't stop the laughter that was bubbling up inside of him from exploding forth. He laughed and laughed, feeling more amused than he had since the Marauder's final prank in their seventh year, "You are a piece of work kid," he gasped between full belly laughs, "You seem to have the worst of all three of us wrapped up in that tiny body!"

Teddy scowled, "I'm not tiny!" he snapped, "And who are you talking about? What three?"

Sirius slowly regained a semi-serious face, still smiling, but no longer laughing, though a few snorts escaped every now and then, "I'm talking about myself, Harry's father James, and…" Sirius trailed off, unsure of how to approach the topic of Remus with Teddy.

Teddy looked intrigued, "My dad?" he asked, "You, Uncle James and my Dad?" he repeated, his eyes bright.

Sirius was momentarily surprised by the easy way that Teddy talked about his father, Harry had always had a hard time hearing things about his parents; he was intrigued by them and the things they did in school, but it was always as if you were dredging up sad memories by talking about them. "Yeah," he nodded, "Me, James and Remus, your dad."

With an intense stare the boy folded his legs and sat down in front of Sirius, "You think I'm like my dad?" he breathed, his hair slowly changing from the wild raven black hair it had been to a sandy blond that matched Remus' hair almost exactly. The rest of Teddy's features were changing from an exact replica of Harry and James' faces to one less aristocratic and more Remus like, though Sirius could clearly see traits of Tonks in his features. Sirius could only assume this was what the boy normally looked like.

Nodding, Sirius unthinkingly began to tell Teddy about the time that the Marauders had started a school wide water fight by dropping a few well placed water balloons from the top of the various towers on Hogwarts, making the boy burst into delighted giggles and laughter at the tale.

The two were so distracted that Teddy almost didn't manage to make the both of them go invisible when another tall aristocratic blonde man came around the corner of the house.

"Don't even bother Teddy," the man said, "Hermione told me you were hiding over here."

"Darn it," Teddy growled softly with a dark look on his face, returning their visibility, "I didn't mean to Draco, really!" Teddy cried, his expression morphing to look absolutely distraught.

Glancing first at the man who was apparently Draco Malfoy and then down at Teddy, Sirius shook his head, he really was a piece of work, Sirius hadn't figured out how to act this well until he was near ten.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Don't pull that crap with me cousin," he stated in an arrogant voice, "You and I both know that you fully intended everything that happened to happen. You may be able to fool Bill, and Fleur, and Molly, and Andy, and Hermione, and everyone else, but you don't fool me, or that godfather of yours."

Teddy folded his arms and looked through narrowed eyes at Draco, not looking distraught at all anymore, "Then what do you want?" he asked suspiciously.

Draco pulled his arms from behind his back, revealing two slices of cheese cake that were colored like candy corn, "I thought you might like some cake."

"No catch?" Teddy inquired, slowly reaching out his hands to take the cake.

"Well…" Draco started, and Teddy immediately snatched his hands back.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed, "What do you want?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "Honestly cousin, you're more suspicious than any Slytherin I've ever met, I just want to hang out with you and our other cousin Sirius here."

Teddy's face lightened, "Oh," he said, snatching the cake away from Draco's hand, "Okay," he mumbled through a large bite of food.

Draco watched in amusement as Teddy scarffed down the cake with a speed that would compete with any Weasley, "Oh, and I thought you might want to know that the candy apples are almost all gone," he added once Teddy was finished.

"WHAT?" the little boy shrilled, "And you waited until _now_ to tell me?" Teddy was up and gone like flash, racing around the corner and out of sight.

Sirius watched him go and stood up, looking at Draco suspiciously, "What was that?" he asked the blond who looked like he had dressed up like some sort of muggle rat-pack person.

Draco shrugged and moved to lean a shoulder against the wall, "That was me proving to Potter, Weasley, and Hermione that I could in fact get Teddy to willingly show his face at the party again," he laughed, "It works every time. Cake?" he asked, offering up the other plate he held in his other hand, "Hermione made this one herself the other day," he informed Sirius.

"I'm not nearly as trusting as Teddy," Sirius stated, eyeing the cake carefully.

Draco smirked, "I figured," he responded, "But I didn't think I would get the same results from you if I told you the candy apples were almost all gone," he said with a smile, "Think of it as a peace offering. Neither one of us wanted to be part of our dark families and we both did something about it. We're on the same side, and for Hermione's sake, I thought it would be best if I let you get your mistrust out of your system before she has to see us together."

Slowly Sirius accepted the cake from Draco, "What makes you think I mistrust you?" he wanted to know.

Eyebrow raised, Draco gave a chuckle, "Well the way you are eyeing that cake as if it were going to suddenly change into a pixie and bite you definitely gives it away a little."

Sirius stopped staring at the cake, "Besides that?" he tried being nonchalant.

"The fact that if our roles were reversed I would feel the same way you do," Draco finally stated, his grey eyes serious, "I wouldn't trust me, not after all the things I have done in the past, but for some unfathomable reason Hermione decided to give me a chance to be better than I was and I took it. She saved me, in more ways than one."

Sirius paused in his eating of the delicious cake to eye Draco carefully, "Do you love her?" he asked tersely, immediately feeling like some overprotective and jealous boyfriend.

Draco hesitated, a small mischievous light coming to his eyes, "Yes," he stated, smirking when Sirius tensed up, "like a sister," he added after a moment, "So that means that if you hurt her, Sirius Black," Draco took a step toward Sirius looking menacing, "I _will_ kill you, and this time you won't come back."

Sirius eyed Draco in contemplation for a minute before breaking out into a smirk remarkably similar to Draco's, "Well it's nice to know Hermione has someone looking out for her," he said, "I'm not so sure Harry or Ron could have made the same threat quite as effectively as you just did."

Draco blinked, "What?" he asked as more of something to say than out of actual confusion.

"I have no intention of hurting Hermione, Draco; not now, not ever. I love her more than my own life, she means everything to me, so thank you for taking the time to prove to me that you aren't all bad if you're willing to threaten a man who has at least twenty years experience over you, was wanted for mass murder, and who was brought back from the dead."

"You forget who my father was," Draco stated, unimpressed.

Sirius frowned, "You forget who my _mother_ was," he replied, slightly amused they were arguing about who's parents were worse.

Draco shrugged nonchalantly, "I never met your mother," he responded in a bored tone.

Sirius opened his mouth and words came pouring out unthinkingly, "Well I never met your father!" he snapped childishly.

Draco blinked knowingly.

"Okay, that's a lie," Sirius backtracked once his own words finally managed to make their way to his brain, "Maybe I met him once."

With a raised eyebrow Draco indicated that once again he didn't believe him.

Sirius stared back at Draco for a few seconds before cracking, "Okay fine! So I met him a couple of times! Good Godric, what do you want from me?" Sirius threw his arms up in flustered frustration, only slightly pretending to be irritated when he muttered, "Bloody Slytherin," and turned on his heel and unthinkingly stalked around the corner of the house, leaving Draco to enjoy his laughter by himself.

Finally realizing what he was doing, and already halfway to the well lit section of the Weasley's back yard where the party was being held, Sirius froze, staring at the large group of costumed party goers that he had been so eager to avoid just moments ago.

Almost numbly, his eyes wide, Sirius moved to turn around when Teddy came flying out of nowhere and latched himself onto Sirius' legs, "Don't let them kill me Uncle Sirius!" he wailed.

Surprised, Sirius looked down at the now turquoise hair colored boy who was staring pleadingly up at him, "What did you do this time Cub?" he asked with a wink and a smile that somehow found its way to his lips, recalling the frequency with which the Marauders had referred to Harry by the same nickname, at the time assuming that he was the closest any of them would ever get to a child of their own.

Teddy skillfully schooled his expression into a surprisingly sincere version of an innocent grin, "I didn't do anything," he stated emphatically.

Sirius naturally knew better than to believe the boy, but just when he was about to stoop down to talk to the kid a shrill but familiar voice started shouting, "Theodor Remus Lupin! You get back here this instant young man!" the voice was drawing nearer at a rapid pace as Sirius noted the owner of the voice was a woman with long graying black hair who was completely soaked from head to toe and she didn't look happy at all.

"Didn't do anything huh?" Sirius muttered sarcastically to the boy still wrapped around his legs, a smirk on his face even as his eyes never left the approaching woman, attempting to figure out who she was and why she was so familiar to him.

"When I get my hands on you…" she growled getting even closer, crossing the distance between them quickly, "You're worse than Sirius ever was," she muttered to herself, "At least _he_ never poured ice cold water on me! Honestly, neither of your parents were this difficult!"

Without a doubt Sirius was certain he knew exactly who this woman was, her words so familiar it gave her identity away, and as she finally reached the two boys (who knows where Draco went) his suspicions were confirmed, "Now now Andromeda, is that any way to talk to my Great-godson?" he stated, certain she hadn't figured out who he was yet, if she even recognized he was there at all, her eyes were locked on the little boy who was refusing to look at her.

Jerking her head up Andromeda Tonks came to a sudden halt only feet away from the two and stared. Sirius refrained from smirking as he felt Teddy duck behind him in fear. "Sirius?" Andromeda breathed.

This time he did smile, "The one and only Drama," he responded, using his childhood nickname for his favorite cousin, referencing her flare for the dramatics along with the similar sounds between the word and her name.

"You're really alive?" she asked softly, slowly raising her hands as if to touch him, but never actually doing so.

Even in the dim light Sirius could see her eyes fill with tears, "Nah," Sirius laughed, "I just decided to come back and haunt you by protecting your grandson from your wrath."

Without anything further spoken between the two cousins Sirius found his arms full of a sobbing Andromeda Tonks, "You're really here!" she cried, "I thought you were dead, but then Hermione—And I couldn't go—I'm sorry, so so so sorry!" she moaned into his chest, her tears getting his shirt wet.

Sirius wound his arms around her lightly, surprised and pleased with her reaction to seeing him again, "Hey Drama shh," he soothed, "It's okay, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

Slowly Andromeda came back to her 'rational' self, pulling back to look up at Sirius, her urge to punish her grandson almost forgotten as she studied his face, "You look so young," she murmured, her hands smoothing some hair from his face.

Sirius smirked, "You're crazy," he stated arrogantly, "I've always looked this good."

Andromeda laughed with him, "Of course; whatever you say Siri," she replied, her voice turning more serious, "Now about my grandson who got me soaked," she said ominously.

Sirius subtly flicked his wand and dried Andromeda's clothes and hair, "You don't look soaked," he said innocently.

Surprised and suspicious Andromeda looked down at her muggle clothing, "What are you—"she noticed her clothes were dry and looked at Sirius suspiciously, "Did you just-?"

Neither confirming nor denying anything Sirius shrugged, "Looks like you have no reason to hex my great-godson," he stated with a smirk and a wink.

Slowly Teddy peeked his head out from behind Sirius' legs. Noting that his grandmother's focus was occupied by Sirius he tore off around the house, "Now look what you did," Andromeda waved in the direction Teddy had headed off in, looking tired and worn out all of a sudden, "Now it will take me ages to catch him again," she sighed.

"Are you a witch or not?" Sirius teased, pulling out his wand.

Andromeda laughed scornfully, "There are no spells for catching runaway children," she said, "I've looked."

Sirius shrugged, "_Addo haedo tergo_," he stated, making the tip of his wand glow turquoise, "Huh," he frowned in surprise, "The color was always gold for Harry," he muttered to himself thoughtfully.

"What was—" Andromeda started but she was cut off by a squealing and giggling turquoise haired boy that was floating towards them three feet off the ground, "Teddy?" Andromeda exclaimed as she watched Teddy float strait to Sirius and land gently at his feet. Stunned, Andromeda simply stared at the laughing Teddy and the smug Sirius.

With a smirk Sirius shrugged again, "Babysitting little Harry was a nightmare," he tried to explain, "He would constantly want to play hide and seek, a terrible muggle game Lily taught him. So Remus and I, geniuses that we were, invented that spell to keep track of him."

Andromeda sobered at the mention of her late son-in-law, "How are you doing?" she asked him softly, knowing that he would understand she was referring to Remus' death.

Unconsciously Sirius' eyes wandered over to where Hermione was laughing with a princely looking Neville, who, Sirius absently noted, looked far more mature than then last time Sirius had seen him, "I'm doing better now," he finally replied, his eyes obviously filled with love.

Suddenly Sirius felt a hand clap on his shoulder and he looked over to see a smirking Draco standing next to him, "He's got Midnight to help him," Draco stated, "They're in _love_," he mocked with a grin.

Sirius wasn't sure whether to be insulted or not, but before he could decide and come up with an appropriate retort the familiar bell like sound of Hermione's voice responded for him, "Well at least he and I were brave enough to tell each other how we feel Hurón," Hermione stated smartly with a smirk eerily like Draco's, (and Sirius' own, though he'd never say it out loud).

Sirius snorted in amusement as Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist, "Hurón?" he asked.

Draco raised a pale eyebrow, "It's my animagus nickname," he stated in reply to the unasked question.

"And who came up with that name may I ask?" Sirius questioned with a smirk, pushing down the minor surprise he felt at finding out Draco was also an animagus, "Let me guess, your form is a Ferret?"

Draco frowned, "Yes, Hermione gave me my name," he answered both questions, "How did you guess what my form was?"

Sirius shrugged with a small smile, "Do you know what the Spanish translation for Hurón is?" was all he said in response.

Draco stared at Hermione and Hermione stared back. The two seemed to be communicating somehow, though Sirius couldn't figure out how. Confused he looked over at Andromeda, not noticing Teddy slowly sneaking away again and turning himself invisible.

"They do this a lot," Andromeda told him in response to his unasked question, "You should see the group of them, sometimes their whole conversations are silent."

"How?" Sirius asked with intrigued confusion.

"It's a bit unclear," Andromeda sighed, "None of them really like to talk about that time. As far as I can tell Remus was the only one they ever told anything to," Andromeda watched Hermione and Draco stare at each other for another second, "We think it has something to do with occlumency," she finally told him.

Sirius blinked, "Occlumency?" he repeated.

With a nod Andromeda added, "or legilimency."

"Legilimency?" Sirius exclaimed.

Andromeda shrugged, "Maybe it's both?" she stated.

"And you think Remus knew about all of this?" Sirius asked after a lengthy pause.

Andromeda sighed again and nodded, "He always seemed to know more about Harry and his friends then he told anyone. I get the feeling that they were up to a lot of mischief at school that the Order wouldn't have approved of, so he didn't tell anyone in the Order about it. When you…left," Andromeda hesitated, "Remus was the person Harry turned to, they wrote each other a lot. With the exception of a short period after Harry, Ron, and Hermione went off on their own they were constantly in contact. Even when no one else could get through to Harry, Remus would."

Sirius dropped his head sadly, he should have been there…slowly he lifted his head to look at Andromeda, "How can I—"

"It means WHAT?" Draco exclaimed interrupting him, "I trusted you!"

Hermione was giggling, obviously unconcerned, "Don't worry Draco," she laughed, "Nobody but Harry knows what it means."

"Why would you do such a…" Draco was at a loss for words, clearly irritated.

"Oh, Draco! There you are," the airy voice of Luna Lovegood suddenly joined the conversation, "The urgalsnorts really like your voice you know," she told him secretively.

Draco's face took on a dazed look, "Really?" he asked as he looked at the beautiful blonde.

Sirius now knew what Hermione had been teasing Draco about when she had come to his rescue earlier. It was obvious to anyone who had eyes that Draco was head over heels for this girl. The two stared at each other, doing the same communicating thing that Draco and Hermione had been doing when suddenly Draco looked over at the party and rolled his eyes, "He's right here Potter!" he shouted, startling his two cousins but not Hermione or Luna who were obviously privy to his thoughts.

Sirius looked at Hermione in confusion, she smiled back and answered his unasked question, "Harry and Draco made a bet that Draco wouldn't be able to get you to join the party…" she paused and her eyes distanced for a second, "Harry is arguing that Draco didn't actually get you to join the party since you're still all the way over here," Hermione paused again, during which time Draco let out a loud groan, "Ron is agreeing with Harry," Hermione explained.

"Naturally," Draco grumbled, making Hermione smile in amusement.

"Ron says that the party stops where the light stops being bright, so technically Harry is right. Draco is upset that now that I've told you all of this you won't help him win," Hermione paused then frowned, "They just shut me out of the conversation!" she suddenly exclaimed with a glare, reaching over to whack Draco.

She rolled her eyes as Draco began complaining, "This is ridiculous, ready or not Sirius, here we go," she stated as she grabbed Sirius' hand and dragged him over to the party and into the light.

Sirius squinted for a second as the light overwhelmed his eyes, but the second they were clear he became distinctly aware of the fact that all had gone silent the moment he had come into sight. Slowly Sirius looked around the crowd that were all staring back at him, many faces he recognized but there were many more that were barely recognizable as they had all aged since the last time he saw them.

Suddenly the silence was interrupted by Molly Weasley appearing right in front of Sirius and Hermione, "Sirius!" she gasped with a smile, "It's nice seeing you out and about!" Sirius was surprised when he found himself engulfed in the Weasley matriarch's arms; he had never gotten along with her very well, so for her to welcome him with such warmth was completely unexpected.

Sirius felt Hermione attempt to worm her hand from his as he hadn't bothered to let go of her when Molly had dragged him into a tight hug; instead of letting go however, he simply squeezed her hand tighter in an attempt to let her know that he needed her to stay beside him in order for him to survive this. In response Hermione squeezed back and quit trying to separate their hands.

When Molly finally released him Sirius took a deep breath of much needed air as he stepped back to stand beside Hermione, "Thank you Molly," he said with a quick look at Hermione, "Hermione finally convinced me to quit being such a recluse, and when she told me about this party tonight I thought, why not?" Sirius looked over to where Harry was staring at him with an indiscernible look, "James, Lily and Remus wouldn't have wanted me to be wallowing like I have been; that wasn't like me."

Slowly people began talking again and going back to whatever it was they had been doing before Sirius had made his appearance, but still Harry and Sirius remained locked in a staring contest, neither making a move to speak to one another. Hermione looked between the two men as Sirius' grip on her hand became tighter, the only apparent sign of nervousness, before she could encourage one of them to make the first move Molly let out another gasp.

"How long has this been going on?" Molly demanded gesturing to Hermione and Sirius' clasped hands with a smile.

Sirius finally looked down at their hands, seeming to realize just how tight he was squeezing and loosening his grip immediately, "Uh…" he started ineloquently, unsure of what to say, his mind focused more on his godson and the confusing look on his face than on Molly and other's reactions to him and Hermione being together.

Hermione smiled at him knowingly, "We've been going around in circles for a while now, but we just got our act together tonight," she told Molly, who simply smiled and hugged the both of them.

"I'm so happy for you both!" she exclaimed once she let go of them and she was about to go on when Sirius finally deiced to make the first move to speak to Harry himself.

"I mean no offence, but it has been a while since I have managed to speak to my godson for more than a few seconds," Sirius stated with a quick look at Hermione, "So if you'll excuse me…" and with a quick kiss to Hermione's forehead and a squeeze of her hand he was gone.

His stride was long and purposeful up until he was mere feet away from Harry where he began to falter for a second. He almost changed his mind about everything and left, but then he noticed the small spark of hope that had appeared in the familiar green eyes of his godson.

Determination renewed Sirius squared his shoulders, "Your first word was something I'm not allowed to repeat in public in fear of your mother coming back to haunt me," he started, "It was a result of one of the many, many, many wild nights that Remus and I spent babysitting you. You had decided that it would be funny to tie both of us up with some of Lily's knitting string which somehow came alive and decided to make it impossible for us to move. Then while we were all tied up you found a muggle sprinkler that was running in the front yard of the muggle home you and your parents were hiding in at the time and brought it in the house… while the water was running."

Sirius paused for a second to take a breath, fully aware he was rambling but uncertain about what else they would end up talking about, "When you came back and found us still struggling to get free you laughed and decided to try and cut hair like your mother would do for James, let's just say that night didn't end well for Moony and I, while everyone else had a good laugh at the whole situation. Your favorite game to play was hide and seek, you always hid a little too well and often you wouldn't tell Moony or me that you were playing the game in the first place."

Harry's eyes were now showing amusement and wonder as Sirius continued to talk and tell him all the things he hadn't even thought to ask those years before the veil. Harry couldn't help the smile that was spreading across his lips as he listened to Sirius ramble on.

"Your first steps were taken while we were all distracted by Lily setting the stove on fire. You walked right out of the house and directly to where James, Remus and I had left our brooms before plopping yourself down next to them with this grin…" Sirius trailed off and blinked, realizing this wasn't what he wanted to be saying right now, "What I mean to say, Harry," he tried again suddenly unable to look at his godson, "is that I'm sorry I haven't been around for you to talk to, to ask questions and get answers no one else will ever be able to give you but me. Responsibility has never been something I was good at, and I've failed you so many times I just didn't want to fail you again. But I promise you now—"

Sirius was cut off as Harry suddenly tugged him into a tight embrace, "I missed you," Harry murmured softly before pulling back, "I just wanted you to come back, I didn't need someone to tell me stories or even someone to guide me and tell me what to do," Harry looked into Sirius' eyes, hoping to convey everything he didn't know how to say, "I just wanted you to be around to see the wonderful things that could make your life worth living, I just wanted you to be able to enjoy your life, for some reason you got a second chance and it hurt to see you wasting away in that room and not being enough to help you be happy again."

Sirius shook his head, "You were enough Harry, I knew that if I ever left that room I would be bombarded by responsibilities, with you being my godson and needing his godfather and Teddy needing his great-godfather," Sirius gestured vaguely to some area behind him, "and Andy needs a cousin, who knows what everyone else needs from me…" Sirius trailed off as his eyes wandered back to rest on Hermione, "I didn't know how to be what everyone needed, and that scared me most of all," Sirius sighed, his eyes returning to his godson.

Harry gave him an understanding smile, "How do you think I feel, being the 'chosen one' and all that?" he laughed before growing serious once more, "All you need to be—all any of us want or need you to be—is happy," Harry nodded as if trying to communicate something he didn't know how to say, "And anything we can do to help you to be happy we will do, you never need to feel like you have to stretch yourself so many different ways, just be here and enjoy your life, that's all any of us want from you."

Sirius blinked, this was not at all how he thought this conversation would go and he wasn't sure how to feel about that, "But what about—" he tried to protest but Harry cut him off.

"Sirius," Harry stated firmly, "It was never my parents or Remus' intention to place so much responsibility on you," Harry paused and contemplated his words, "Well, from what Remus told me, maybe it was their intention to help you grow up a little, but even though I may not remember much about my parents, or have gotten to know Remus half as well as I wished I could, I do know that they wouldn't want you to give up your happiness to be what everyone wants you to be, I would never ask that of you, nor would Teddy or Andy…" Harry grinned mischievously, "or, for that matter, would Hermione."

Sirius' head snapped up as he looked at his godson in surprised confusion, "What are you talking about?" he demanded worriedly.

Harry rolled his eyes, "It has been perfectly obvious to anyone with half a brain over the last year or so since you came back that Hermione is absolutely in love with you," he chuckled, "And to those who know her like I do it has been even longer than that…say, fourth year or so?"

He couldn't help it, Sirius gaped at Harry, "Really?" he gasped, "you knew about this all along?"

Harry laughed but before he could say anything Hermione marched up to him and pinched his shoulder, "Harry James Potter, you stop this interrogation right now!" she exclaimed, "If I want to be with Sirius then that is _my_ decision, so I demand that you—"

Harry held up his hands in defense, "Interrogation?" he repeated incredulously, "I haven't even asked him anything, all I've said to your lovely _boyfriend_" Harry said the word mockingly making them both blink at the oddity of the word being applied to Sirius, "about this situation is that it has been a long time coming and that everyone knows that you're in love with him!" Harry smirked as he looked back at his godfather, "Though I do have to say…if you hurt her I will make you wish you were still dead," he stated suddenly serious.

Sirius was about to reply that he had absolutely no intention of ever letting Hermione go, and that included hurting her for any reason, when Hermione beat him to it, "That's enough Lightning!" she scolded, though she looked slightly pleased that Harry was looking out for her.

"Or what?" Harry replied challengingly.

Sirius watched the two interact as a sort of peace seemed to descend on him, this is what he had hoped for his entire life, a place and people to call home. He had found it once with the Potters and Remus, but it had all been ripped sharply out from under him; now he finally felt as if he had found that happy place once more, right here with his godson, his girlfriend – though it was a little odd to call her that considering his age—and the rest of their family.

His thoughts were interrupted when Hermione suddenly transformed into her wolf form and lunged at Harry. Sirius made a move to stop her, his eyes wide in surprise that she would attack Harry like that, when suddenly Harry, who had a giant smile on his face, disappeared and in his place stood another rather large black wolf with green eyes the shade of the same curse that had given him the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. The two wolves growled and began wrestling with one another playfully as Sirius watched on with a stunned look on his face.

"I haven't seen Harry this happy in a while," a voice commented from his left, making Sirius turn to find Neville Longbottom, Draco, Lee Jordan, George and several girls he didn't know.

Ignoring everyone but Neville for a moment Sirius smiled kindly at him, "Neville Longbottom," he stated, " I haven't seen you since the day you ran around the Potter's home absolutely terrified for your life because you and Harry had managed to steal more than a few freshly made cookies from the table right under the nose of that terrifyingly observant grandmother of yours. James, Remus and I tried to cover for you of course –your father would have helped but he was out that day with your mother—unfortunately all our help ended up doing was making her mad enough to lecture Lily on how little control she had over her family and how it was all our fault that you were turning out to be a delinquent like the rest of us," Sirius looked completely unrepentant for the part he played in all of this.

Neville tilted his head, "I knew you?" he asked in confusion, "Harry and I knew each other growing up?"

Sirius snickered, "Don't sound so surprised," he laughed, "Frank was one of our best friends in school, he was an honorary Marauder of sorts. Alice was also one of Lily's best friends, so when they both found out they were due with two little baby boys on the same day they were both completely ecstatic and decided right away that you two would grow up best friends," Sirius' eyes distanced for awhile, "You two always got along, but more often than not you found yourselves in trouble as a result of things Harry would drag you into doing," he chuckled, "It was always amusing to watch your face whenever you two got caught."

Neville looked in surprise over to where the two wolves were still playing with one another, "We were friends?"

Sirius nodded, "As close as two little one year old boys could be," he confirmed, "That's just one more thing I would have changed if I hadn't gone after Pettigrew," he then murmured to himself.

"What do you mean?" Neville asked.

Looking surprised that he had spoken out loud Sirius blinked, "I made a lot of promises to a lot of people, to James and Lily to take care of Harry, to Remus to help him through the full moons, and to your parents to make sure that you would have fun every now and then, but I let them down, I let all of them down by getting so mad that I walked right into a trap by that rat!" Sirius took a deep breath, "It would have all been different if I had stuck around. Harry wouldn't have been forced to live with his aunt and uncle, Remus wouldn't have been alone, and I would have been able to make sure that that friendship you and Harry had wasn't over before it had even begun…and I would have helped you to have a little more fun than your grandmother would have liked," he added with a wink.

Neville smiled, "As it is I don't think you did to shabbily," he tried to console Sirius, "Everything turned out alright in the end," he paused, "Well as much as could have with what happened to both our parents," he nudged Sirius, "Just don't disappear on us again and I think it will be even better than it has been."

Sirius nodded, "I have no intention of disappearing, I'm afraid your stuck with me," he smirked, "Now could you perhaps introduce me to these friends of yours and Harry's?" he asked as he gestured to the group surrounding him as they cheered Hermione and Harry on.

With a nod Neville pointed to each of the people surrounding them, "That is Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, they were roommates with Harry, Ron and me at Hogwarts. Next to them is Lee Jordan, Fred and George's best friend in school. Then those girls are Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson, they were in the twins' year," Neville gestured to the other girls and one boy on the other side of him, "That is Colin Creevy, Pavarti and Padma Patil, Susan Bones, Lavender Brown, and Hannah Abbot. You already know Draco, one of my closest friends, and Luna Lovegood."

Sirius nodded, fairly certain that he would forget most the names by the end of the night, "How do you all know each other?" he asked.

Neville blinked, "Didn't Harry or Hermione tell you?" he asked incredulously, "These are all members of the First Class DA," he said as if that explained everything.

Apparently it didn't if the blank look on Sirius' face was anything to go by. Neville looked longingly at the pair of wolves before reluctantly turning to begin explaining to Sirius what the First Class DA was; before he could say anything Draco gripped his shoulder and rolled his eyes, "Go on, I'll explain," he laughed gesturing to the animagi.

Neville smiled and nodded, "Thanks," he called over his shoulder before shouting a quick, "All in!" and shifting into his own form of a cougar.

Now Sirius really was completely shocked, "How many of you are there?" he finally demanded, sparing a quick look at Draco before gaping as he watched Luna and Ginny change into a white cat and a lynx respectively and join in the fray.

Draco smirked, "Oh you know…a lot," he laughed.

With a frown Sirius gave Draco a look that clearly demanded that he explain, "And how exactly did this come about?" he questioned impatiently.

Draco shrugged, "Well, from what Hermione has told me the attempts at transformation started sometime around February of our sixth year but they weren't able to get it until just after Easter break. There was something about multiple failures, Potter having some sort of temper tantrum that involved the discovery of his ability to do wandless and wordless magic, and there being hundreds of unhelpful books in the Room of Requirement. Ultimately it came down to three books that helped them, meaning Potter, Weasley, Ginny and Hermione, to figure out how to become successful animagi."

Sirius narrowed his eyes suspiciously, what three books could have helped them so much, and where were they when he and his friends were looking for such a thing? Draco obviously saw his confusion and continued on with his story.

"The three books became required reading for everyone in the First Class DA, which by the way was the advanced members of the newly renewed DA group, mostly they were the members from the first time around. The three books as you might have guessed, were called A Book by Padfoot—very creative title by the way—" Draco snickered, " A Guide by Prongs, and Becoming an Animagus From the View of an Observer," Sirius looked more surprised than Draco seemed to think he should, "So maybe you didn't guess…" he paused in surprise.

Sirius struggled to voice the thoughts in his mind, "You used _those_ books?" Sirius was incredulous, "We didn't actually mean for them to mean anything, they were just a way for us to keep track of the things we tried and failed!"

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Then what was with the lame titles?"he asked.

Shaking his head Sirius gave a weak chuckle, "We were bored so we named them, but we never thought anyone but us would actually see them!" Sirius paused for a minute before realizing something, "Wait, only _three_ books?" he tried to clarify.

Draco smirked, "The fourth apparently only lasted mere seconds before Potter blew it up and burned the remains before dumping the ashes out the window," Draco seemed amused by this, "I would have done the same thing had Potter and I switched places," he commented thoughtfully.

Sirius let out a bark of laughter, "He really did that?"

"Nasty temper that godson of yours has," Draco mock sighed with a sad shake of his head, "he could easily become a crazy freakazoid mass murderer with a face that looked like it had had just enough adjustments to its nose for it to fall off…" Draco trailed off as he pretended to be concerned.

Sirius didn't think he had ever heard anyone speak of Voldemort so flippantly, "And what part did you play in all of this?" he asked.

Draco smiled softly as he looked at the brownish wolf, "Hermione convinced me to spy for Potter," he finally sighed, "Ultimately that meant joining her little band of do-gooders," Draco was distracted as a white fluffy cat with startlingly blue eyes pranced up to him and seemed to wait patiently at Draco's feet. Bending down to pick the cat up, "This is Looney, or as I like to call her, Snowflake; her human name is Luna," he said with a smile at Sirius, "I'm afraid the rest of the story is going to have to wait until later Padfoot," Draco stated as he began to walk away to sit down with the cat in his lap.

Sirius watched as the animals continued to play with one another as the other adults laughed and talked among themselves, loosing himself in his thoughts. Absently he sent out a silent wish that James, Lily, Remus and Nymph could be here to see all this joy. This is what the war had been about, what they had all died for; just this moment of perfect contentedness.

Feeling something tug on his cape Sirius looked down to find Teddy staring back up at him, "Uncle Padfoot?" the little boy asked quietly, "Aren't you an Animagus too?"

Sirius smiled and nodded, "I am," he replied bending down to be eye level with the blue haired boy.

"Then why aren't you playing with them?" was Teddy's next question.

The idea honestly hadn't occurred to him, "Should I?" he asked Teddy. With a vigorous nod as his encouragement Sirius concentrated as he attempted to become the form of Padfoot for the first time since his return. Upon the completion of his transformation Teddy giggled.

"You're a doggy like Aunt Mione and Harry," he exclaimed in glee, "You know what that means? Dog pile!" he shouted as he dived into the fray and tackled Midnight and Lightning at the same time.

Yes, Sirius thought, this is what family was all about. He would never again hide away from moments like these. With a loud bark of joy Padfoot joined in the fun, glad to once again be able to feel as if he had finally come home.

A/N: Yes, it's true, I finally updated this story! Lol, it was a long time coming but I wanted to get it just right, as it is, I'm not sure it was everything I thought it would be, but I still think it went over pretty well. I absolutely love writing Teddy, he is soooooooo CUTE! ^_^ If you liked this, or didn't, please leave a review, they make my day!

Thanks again for reading and REVIEWing!

M-M-G


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